On the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, Granville at 12th, to July 19

Tickets $25 to $84, go to artsclub.com or call 604-687-1644

VANCOUVER - What a coup! The Arts Club Theatre Company takes Les Misérables firmly by the reins and, blessed by the best sets of lungs in town, trots out a warm and intimate version of the warhorse of musical theatre.

For weeks, the buzz around town has been a worried one —do director Bill Millerd and his team have the chops to translate Les Miz from the Broadway behemoth we know down to a manageable show on that infamously shallow stage at the Stanley? It’s a treat to report that this Arts Club production not only finds a whole new way to play with “the musical that swept the world,” but does so without sacrificing the broad scope of the original.

In one regard it even trumps its gargantuan predecessor. For all the times I’ve sat through Les Miz in enormous theatres, I’ve never heard every word sung with such clarity.

The Stanley’s sharp acoustics (and attentive sound design by Chris Daniels) see even the most subtle sung-through line carried to the whole house. And it sure doesn’t hurt to have a host of gorgeous numbers sung by such a powerhouse cast.

Hero and villain provide perfect counterpoint. Kieran Martin Murphy’s Jean Valjean is big and generous, with pleasingly modern hints in his phrasing. Réjean Cournoyer’s Javert is dark and brooding, sinking into a satisfyingly deep rumble.

In order of appearance, the three key female roles are also performed to perfection: Sara-Jeanne Hosie first plucks at the heartstrings as Fantine, then Kaylee Harwood hits the high-soprano heavens as Cosette and Rebecca Talbot haunts us with an unforgettable Eponine.

Kudos to the kids: Emily Matchette’s young Cosette sings an exquisite Castle on a Cloud and Joshua Ballard is a charming scene-stealer as little Gavroche — not to give anything away, but this talented lad’s feisty character really goes out with a bang.

Jeffrey Victor’s Marius is a rich partner for Cosette and handsome Jonathan Winsby lends student leader Enjolras the big brass needed to lead a revolution. Nicola Lipman and John Mann suffer a little by comparison as they sing the raunchy, rotten roles of the Thenardiers with a titch too little force, but their comedic mannerisms still come across with punch.

The director has clearly worked closely with his design team to tinker with everything. Perhaps that should read “doctor everything,” since Millerd was presented on Wednesday with an honourary doctorate at the University of B.C.

Musical director Bruce Kellett leads an orchestra of only six people, himself included, and has to do it all from the “crush bar” behind the balcony. Yet their rendering of his reorchestration of the score is somehow never less than a full interpretation of this musical monster.

Ted Roberts keeps his looming, gloomy set’s components simple and flexible, so that a scene is quickly changed by, for example, flying in nothing more than a garden fence. As she always does on the Stanley’s narrow stage, choreographer Val Easton employs subtle shifts in movement to ensure focus is never misplaced, no matter how crowded things get.

Alison Green’s costumes hew to the original, and that means a pleasing palette of everything from Starving Chic to supersized hoopskirts. Marsha Sibthorpe’s lighting is largely used to specifically spotlight the concept of bright moments in a dark world, but one lighting choice is part of the problem for the show’s only clunker of a scene.

Javert does something late in the second act that has traditionally been seen from a great distance, far upstage and high up. That’s not possible at the Stanley, so sticking to the original idea proves a mistake — we see too much of the mechanics when the moment calls for a neat simplicity.

At the end of the day, however, who cares? Shout it from the barricades — Les Miz is the hottest ticket in town.

Sun Theatre Critic

pbirnie@vancouversun.com

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Theatre review: Smaller stage no obstacle to big sound of Les Miz

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